RUN FOR THE WALL Jean and Larry: May 12, 2023

May 12, 2023 - Day 6 to Ontario

WOW yet another great start to the day. 55 degrees and sunny.

NOTE: If you want to see a better look at the pics, click on it and it will fit your screen.

As we left, Ron said let's go down the lake a little and see how low it actually is. The white toward the top is how high it is supposed to be.

We head back toward town. There is golf course and it looks like it is right in the middle. I would loose so many golf ball because I am not always in the fairway. It is very narrow.

Back on the road. The terrain changed a lot today. We started out with the normal stone/rock cliffs.

The colors again were great. Weird to say I love looking at a bunch of rock, but they never fail to amaze me of the color and formation.

Then there was a section that looked like someone sanded then to be really smooth.

Now red.

Next stop is the Grand Canyon.

Last time we went here with Ron, there was so much fog, we could not even see 20 feet into the canyon. We went to the first overlook, and he was amazed at the view.

WOW.... so this is what I missed the first time.

We headed to the visitor center and saw a cow (female) elf right next to the parking lot. We have been so lucky to see animals every day.

Walking thru the parking lot, Larry started laughing. Check this out, pretty funny.

Took a few more pics. Imagine that. hahaha

Ron stood in this spot several years ago and it was all white.

Lots of people out on this ledge. Give you an idea of the size.

Last time we were at the Grand Canyon, we were also supposed to take a helicopter ride. It was canceled because of the fog. Soooo.... we set up another one today. What do you think of when you think of Maverick..... I hope you said Top Gun.

Here we go. Enjoy the pics.

One of the first sites we see is a "controlled burn". Pretty cool to see from the sky.

Here we are currently leaving from the South Rim and flying about 300 feet above the treeline.

Here are a few fun facts the pilot gave us:

It is as deep as 3 empire state buildings stacked up.
A coin will take 18 seconds to reach the bottom.
Grand Canyon is so big that Rhode Island will fit in it

Now we are over the canyon. It is about 1 mile below us.

Colorado River.

If you look close there is a road that goes right to the edge. Our pilot said people have camped there. Stars are incredible. Hope they are not sleepwalkers. That first step might be a dozy.

Now we had over tot the North Rim. It is a little different in that there are more trees. It is also about 1000 feet higher than the South Rim, and it still has snow. The park does not plow and salt the road. They will open the roads when the snow is completely off them.

Heading back.

We flew over a runway for a plane as we are coming into the airport. It did not look very long, but I found out that it was used for Air Force One. The runway is 8999 feet and good enough for it to land.

As we approach the airport, the pilot plays the theme song from Top Gun. Pretty cool.

What a great ride!!! Beautiful weather and not too windy.

Heading out of the park, we notice there were a lot of areas that looked burnt. They are "controlled burns".

Fun Fact:

These controlled burns near the Grand Canyon trails help preserve the environment. If these burns do not take place, many of these areas become overwrought with dried or dead plant matter that could ignite into a wildfire due to an errant spark or intense heat of the Grand Canyon weather.

As we leave the airport and head to Cottonwood AZ for the night, we see smoke. They are actually doing a "controlled burn". They are very cautious and fire fighters are all around.

A few days ago, during lunch, the waiter said he rides a lot in the area. He suggested we ride 89A in Arizona. It runs between Flagstaff and Sedona. What a great suggestion. Yet another good road and different terrain.